Remember the War
by shopaholic90
Summary: A "Shade's Children" fic. Gold-Eye explains as gently as he can to his son and daughter about the heroes they were named after.


**Remember the War**

**_Rating:_ G  
_Written By:_ Mee... Gina!  
_Spoilers:_ Spoilers? None! Nothing to spoil, right? Unless you haven't read the book. Don't read this if you haven't read the book and you plan to!  
_Disclaimer:_ All characters and whatever may concern belong to Garth Nix!  
_NOTE:_ Reviews would be simply wonderful, so if you've got ten seconds to waste, click the "Submit Review" button and go for it! Hope you enjoy the fic! Or, indeed, simply just read it. Oh! And by the way, if you see any wonky stuff like, say, words being joined together, please try to ignore! has it for me and likes to annoy me.**

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"Daddy?" A little girl tugged on Gold-Eye's sleeve as he looked out the window in a trance-like state. "Daddy!" She tugged harder. 

"Eric, your daughter's calling you." Ninde called out in an irritated voice, using his new, legally changed name.

Drum came stomping into the kitchen and to the dinner table, where his sister continued trying to get her father's attention. "Robot!" He cried and dropped one of his toy androids on Gold-Eye's foot, which finally seemed to snap him out of his reverie.

"Ow!" He said and pushed his chair back so he could lean down to rub his toe. "Drum, could you please play with your toys away from the eating room?"

"Robot!" The little boy announced again and trudged out of the room.

Gold-Eye sighed and looked down at Ella. "Were you going to tell me something, sweetheart?" He asked apologetically.

She looked out the window that he had been gazing out earlier, then looked back at him. "What Daddy looked at?" She asked curiously. Gold-Eye paused, then smiled and lifted her up onto his lap with a small grunt.

"Daddy was looking at the sky." He said, pushing a strand of blonde hair out of her beautiful blue eyes. "And he was thinking about how perfect his little Ella was."

"Nooo." The little girl laughed cheerfully. "What else?"

"Well..." He put on an over-exaggerated thinking face. "I was thinking about... your auntie Ella and uncle Drum."

A clang was heard from the sink as Gold-Eye lifted his head to look at Ninde frozen in time. She didn't say anything, but it was clear what was in her mind. She slowly turned her gaze to look at Gold-Eye, her eyes deepening into a realm of sorrow.

"Daddy?" Ella's voice made him look back at her gleaming face. "Ella have no aunt and uncle."

"Ella have aunt and uncle." He said with a crinkled smile. "Ella had a very wonderful aunt and a very wonderful uncle." He lowered his voice and whispered. "They saved the world."

"Nooo." She laughed again and punched him with her small fist. "Silly daddy!"

"It's true!" He said, and tickled her, making her burst into a gale of ringing laughter. He looked up once again at Ninde, who had a barely noticeable hint of tears forming at the edge of her eyes. She watched her husband and daughter engage in elation and a sad smile spread across her face. He smiled right back.

"No!" Ella cried again in delight as she jumped off Gold-Eye, making him grunt, then ran out of the room. After recovering from the impact of his daughter's feet and his stomach, he stood up and walked over to Ninde. She slipped her yellow rubber gloves off and hung them at the edge of the sink.

"It's too early for them to know." She said as he wrapped his arms around her from behind, clasping her hand with his own.

"It's never too early." He replied.

Just then, Ella came running back in, panting from the exhaustion of running to the other room, and soon was joined by Drum.

"Drum save world?" He asked pompously.

"Drum save world." Gold-Eye replied with a grin on his face. "Drum save world from robots."

He held up his toy. "Robot!"

Gold-Eye and Ninde stayed quiet and stationary, remembering all the times they had during the war and the Overlords. Ninde felt Gold-Eye's grasp tighten and she tilted her head up to lock eyes with him. He closed his eyes for a moment, then opened them again.

"Drum lie!" Shrieked Ella, stomping her foot. "Drum lie!"

"Shhh, shh shh shh..." Ninde said gently as she took a few steps and lowered herself to Ella's level, taking her into an embrace. "It's okay, baby."

Gold-Eye scratched the back of his head and breathed out as he looked out the window again. He looked back down at Drum, who stared at him with wide, hazel eyes. "Get up here." He said playfully and opened his arms. Drum stayed still. "What?"

"Boys don't hug." He said stubbornly.

"Tell you what, it'll be a secret, okay? We won't tell anyone. Tomorrow on, we'll be the big, strong boys we always were." He kept his arms open. "What do you say?" Drum paused, then grinned a toothy grin and flew into Gold-Eye's arms. Gold-Eye nearly fell from the sudden heavier weight than Ella but caught his balance and smiled as he turned Drum around to face the window.

"You see that sky out there, Drum?" He asked his son quietly. He nodded, still clutching his toy robots. "A few years ago, it wasn't there." Drum turned to look at him quizzically. "It's true. The sky wasn't blue, and the clouds weren't white. The grass wasn't green and the dirt wasn't brown. Everything was gray." He exhaled, walking towards the window and stopping by the pane. Ninde soon joined them with Ella in her arms. They all looked out at the ocean. "No colour. No life. No smiles." He looked at Drum, then at Ella. "All those things were in a tower, you see. And your auntie Ella and uncle Drum went to that tower and said, 'The world deserves to live life with all these pleasures.' And they set all of it free."

"Really?" Whispered Ella, looking at her mother for a confirmation.

"Really." Ninde said, voice breaking.

"But they also had to go away. They went far, far away." Gold-Eye said, now talking to himself. "They went to the land of heroes."

All four members of the family stood, listening to the seagulls cry out and the waves roar in silent grace. After a moment passed, little Drum looked at his toy robot, then pitched it out the window and into the ocean. The robot slowly rocked back and forth at the surface of the water, then slowly began to sink down to the depth of the sea. Where the blue turned black. Where the rest of the robots that once inhabited children's souls... lay at rest.


End file.
